


Lavender's Green

by amyfortuna



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Hogwarts Houses, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Potions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4630584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pansy propositions Lavender, but is it for love, or a Potions experiment?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lavender's Green

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alley_Skywalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alley_Skywalker/gifts).



"You don't have even a little Slytherin in you?" Pansy was saying, her eyebrows arched gracefully, whispering into Lavender's ear with her arms around Lavender's neck. "Would you like some?" 

"You are completely drunk if you think that line's going to work on me," Lavender said, shrugging Pansy off her. Pansy gave her a smirk, rocking back on her high heels, eyebrows edging from outrageous to very slightly mocking, lipstick a bit smudged. 

"I was completely serious, Lav-Lav," Pansy said. "And it wasn't a come-on. I have a _thing_." She shook her head. "A potion. It brings out your darker side. Gryffs get Slythed, Slyths go all Puff, it's quite disturbing." She brought the cigarette she was holding to her lips and took in a long drag before blowing out the smoke. "But well, if you're not up for it..." She shrugged. 

Lavender was a true Gryffindor. "Lead on, then. I'd like to see the darker side of a Slyth like you. Bet it's fun." 

The Second Wizarding War was almost a year behind them, and most of that year had been spent either catching up on studies or drowning various sorrows. Lavender had been one of the few Gryffindors in their year who hadn't either been killed or immediately recruited into a position in the new Ministry of Magic. At loose ends, she'd gone back to Hogwarts, and found that several of her old classmates, from various Houses, were also repeating the year. They were not put back in their old Houses, but given a space of their own, and the Veterans, as they were called by their younger schoolmates, were left mainly to their own devices, aside from their studies. 

Mostly what they tended to do apart from study was party, and tonight was no exception. Plenty to drink and smoke - and not just Butterbeer, but harder stuff, not just cigarettes, but other things too. 

And now Potions experiments, apparently. Pansy drew Lavender into the small dark room that was their Potions classroom, and giggled as she waved her wand to light the candles. Reaching for two beakers which had been sitting out on the lab table, she handed one to Lavender and kept the other one for herself. 

"Bottoms up!" Pansy said, and downed the glass in one. Lavender laughed, suddenly excited, and did the same. If nothing else, this would be a thrill. 

For a few moments they stood looking at each other, and Lavender was just thinking - _It's not working, nothing's happening_ \- when she felt the unmistakable pull of power behind her eyelids. She could see her face reflected in a shiny chrome basin not far away, and noticed that her eyes were shining green. Pansy gave a shrill shriek, and then laughed, her eyes flashing brightly in the dim light with an orange glow. 

"It's actually working!" Pansy said with a high-pitched laugh, as though she had not expected it to. Lavender felt herself going very still and cold, almost detached from herself in a way she had never been before. But she wanted, oh, how she craved, needed... _power_....

Pansy's eyes snapped to hers, and the light within them was burning bright. And then Pansy did something completely unlike her, and bowed her head, going to her knees in front of Lavender. 

Under normal circumstances, Lavender would have choked out, "Don't be absurd," and pulled Pansy to her feet immediately. But here and now, she almost liked it. "What are you doing?" she said, instead, resisting the urge to do anything silly like demand a pledge of eternal loyalty, because that seemed dangerous to the part of her that wasn't under the influence of anything. 

"I _betrayed_ Hogwarts," Pansy said. "What I said, that night when Voldemort spoke to us. I've been getting shit for it all year, and now I finally understand why."

Lavender turned this over in her mind. She could see both sides of the equation now - the Gryffindor self that she normally was, ready to rush into a fight, and the Slytherin she could have been, seeking safety, even if it meant the sacrifice of someone else. After all, was not one death better than the many that had resulted? If Harry had just been _turned over_ , would not more people be alive today? The Gryffindor part of herself retorted with _not bloody likely!_ but she couldn't afford to head down a million could've-beens and maybe-weres today, not with Pansy kneeling before her, real and alive, and _in pain_. 

"You didn't betray Hogwarts," Lavender said finally. "You didn't." 

Pansy glanced up at her, confused. "You're supposed to humiliate me now. Abuse me. That's why I gave you the Slytherin potion. That's what we do when we see weakness." She looked back down again, staring at the floor. 

"No," Lavender said, and put out her hand, letting it drift toward Pansy's dark hair, and then crouching down, lifting Pansy's chin up. "That's an assumption. You've told yourself a lie - that because your friends were bullies, you were one too. But you aren't. You were just scared." She leaned in close, seeing herself reflected in Pansy's eyes, the green light in her own still present but beginning to fade. "There's nothing wrong with being scared." She smiled a little. "I'm scared right now."

"What?" Pansy asked. "Why?"

Lavender adjusted her hold on Pansy's chin, sliding her hand to cup her face. "I'm scared because I want to kiss you." Pansy drew in a started _oh!_ of a breath. "And because I'm a Gryffindor, I'm going to kiss you anyway." A faint smile flickered over Pansy's face, the light in both their eyes now faded, only reflecting the candlelight in the room. 

Lavender leaned in, and kissed Pansy. Pansy laughed into the kiss, and twined her arms back around Lavender's neck. 

"It absolutely was a come-on, after all," she said after a moment, and raised her eyebrows, gathering Lavender close. 

They sat on the floor of the deserted Potions classroom, trading kisses, until the candles went out.


End file.
